Namor Blodoo Ne

The hexagonal shaped Presec dining hall is home to so many incidents that provoked both great laughter and shock. One such incident happened in 1979/80 academic year. The practice has been to give the few sixth form ladies whom we lusted after without any outward expression, their own table. However since each dining table could take only 12 people, some of these ladies were added to other male tables close to the main female table.

Ladies in boys’ schools do not attend dinning regularly for fear of being labeled a foodie or given other pejorative monikers. Thus on days that these ladies fail to turn up, their food served as extras or dubl3 for the boys around that table. So the prevailing culture was boys eager to eat food of ladies who failed to attend meals and not the other way around. That Friday morning was normal by all standards. After the first two periods, the siren sounded for breakfast. We knew it was Oblayoo or what we called 'Rocks of Ages'. What we did not know was the accompanying freshly baked bread just delivered by Chief Driver Papa Addo from Auntie Esther’s Jehovah Jireh bakery at Madina. The nutmeg ingredient flavor of the bread could be smelled from the library and our salivary glands were prematurely activated as we trooped into the dining hall.

This sixth form lady then Miss M.Cxxxxx [Now Dr M. Xxxxxxx] happened to be placed on a Riis House table which for strange reasons that morning had 3 guys absent from breakfast including the two guys who sat near her and whom she often exchanged pleasantries. The Nestle Ideal milk on the warm 'Rocks' coupled with the groundnut paste spread made the meal very appetizing. So within minutes our lady had finished her loaf of bread and her sense of taste hit the roof; desiring another loaf. Looking at her watch and anticipating that those absent were going to miss breakfast, she made her move and pointing to the loaf on a plate next to her, asked in Ga language: “Namor Blodoo Ne”? (Whose loaf of bread is this?)

A taboo had been broken and the utter shock on the faces on the guys seated at the table was as if a treasonable offence had been committed. What she did not know was that amanfour also had plans for the loaves of the absentees. Why on earth would a lady ask for an extra loaf of bread? It was a no no by Presec standards. So the embarrassing Namor Blodoo Ne cat calls begun and she avoided dining hall for weeks. She tried to explain herself: that one of the absentees was her family relation so her Namor Blodoo Ne inquiry was about having his loaf. Presecans were not convinced and would not buy that spin. The poor lady would endure rather than enjoy the rest of her stay in Presec.

Till this day, Namor Blodoo Ne has remained her name among Odadees of that era. Ghanaian culture frowns on ladies who love food but this incident epitomizes gender biases and a culture that defined ladies behavior without making room for occasional irresistible culinary desire for extras. It unfairly used a one-time mistake to judge her and place her in the category of gluttons when all she asked that day was an extra loaf of bread.

Yes, some mistakes and missteps in life can be damn costly.

Edddiefico Akro House 76-83